Dump-car.



A. M. GOW.

' 4 DUMP CAR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26. 1916.

1,251,770. is a a:

Patented Jan. 1,1918.

ET$-SHEET1 .TGOW

DUMP CAR.

APPLICATION HLED iuLY'zs. 191s.

Patented Jan. 1, 1918 3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

- truck springs.

ALEXANDER M. cow, or DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

DUMP-GAR.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1, 1918..

7 Application filed July 26, 1916. Serial No. 111,332.-

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER M. Grow, a citizen of'the United States,-and resident of Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dump-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to railway cars and has particular reference to anovel side dump car.

My invention comprises a dump car of that type wherein a body adapted todump on either side is supported by hinge castings upon a car framewhich carries upright dumping cylinders actuated by compressed air.- Thecar is equipped with locking 'mechanism to secure the body in ahorizontal position. This locking mechanism is disengaged by the firstfew inches of the motion of the operating piston, which then engages thebottom of the car body and dumps it. The body is right-ed to. thehorizontal position by the operating piston on the other side. Thelocking mechanism prevents the car body, upon being righted, frompassing the horizontal position and dumping on the other side.

Owing to the high center of oscillation and high center of gravity ofthe load, the tendency of the car body to rock from side to side is verygreat. In most-cars of this type this rocking motion is checked bychains secured between the car body and the body bolster of the frame.In certain makes of cars, tension )rnembers forming part of the lockingmechanism are used to check this rocking motion. In my designcompression members are used between the body of-- the car and the bodybolster of the frame, and these members constitute part of the lockingmechanism. There is a very decided mechanical advantage in usingcompression as against tension members for this purpose. The strainincident to this rocking motion must be absorbed by the truck springs onthe side toward which the body rocks. The outer endof the body bolsterrests upon the Compression members located between the ends of the bodybolsters and the car body would transmit the strain directly; and suchcompression moi-liners would be displaced on the side toward which thecar is dumped and replaced, hen the car is righted.

My invention'involves a new and advantageous method of displacing andreplacing these compression members. Two distinct functions areperformed by the upward motion of the piston in the operating cylinder.The first four inches of upward motion serve to disengage the lockingmechanism on the opposite side of the car. The remainder of the travelserves to tip the car body over, the compression members then bein freeto fold out of the path of travel of the body. lVhcn by the action ofthe piston in the opposite cylinders'the car body is righted, thecompression members are automatically restored to their uprightpositions. The means by which I unlock, cause to fold up, and thenreplace these members constitutes an important feature of my invention.The service these cars receive is very severe and because of wear anddistortion they quickly get out of adjustment. This is particularly fromthe track. I make provision for adjustment of the door in two places sothat the door may be set to balance the body to best advantage and alsothat wear and distortion may be compensated for.

In the operation of these carsa wide latitude must be provided for inthe applica- 'tion of the air. Upon thelocomotivc handling the train isprovided a supply of compressed. air. The engineer should be able todump and right the entire train to either side from the locoi'imtive: orany onecar must be capable oi? being dumped and righted singly; or oneor more cars-may be dumped to one side and the remainder to the otherside. It is also very desirable that each car may be dumped and rightedfrom one side. In most cases it is dangerous for a man to be. on theside toward which the car dumps'. Furthermore.- in order to avo dmistakes or contusion the operating levers, controlling the air supplyon each side of the car, should be alike so that there be no danger of aman's dumping the car toward him.

Referring now to the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the car;

Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically the arrangement of air piping;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation showing dumping; cylinders;

F 1 a vertical section showing the locking mechanism in end elevation;and

Fig. 5 shows the end of the car and the door operating mechanism.

Referring to Fig. 1: The car body is supported on hinge castings 1111,secured to the frame 12. Body'bolsters 13- 13 are secured to the frame12 and are carried by the trucks in the usual manner. Air cylinders 1i,shown also in Fig. 3, are secured to the frame 12. Thesecylinders areequipped with pistons and piston rods, not shown. To the top of eachpiston rod is secured a yoke 15, carrying swinging member composed of-anupper part 16 and a lower part 17. To the car body 10 is secured thepush block 18, having a depression 19 adapted to engage the upper end ofpart 16. On the inside surface of the part 1? is a lug -20 adapted toengage the arm 21, secured to the shaft its shown in Fig. 1, shaft 22 issupported by bearings and extends into the body bolster 13.

In Fig. 4 shown the locking mechanism. To the car bodya 10 is securedthe hollow guide casting; 2-1;. adapted to receiyethe up per ends of thetwo con'ipression members 25 and :26. Member is pivoted to the bodybolster 13, while member 26 butts at its lower end against car frame 12,by means of the lugs From lug 9.7 the arm 28 ere tends across the carframe and projects on the opposite sidev To the end of shaft is securedthe doc; in contact with and beneath the arm 28. The operation is as follows; When the left hand piston 14. in Fig. 3, receives air, the yoke 15rises and the shaft is rotated by means of the arm 21 and the lug 20.This disengages lug 27 from the frame 12 and unlocks the lockingmechanism on the side opposite. 21s the piston ri. further, the member16 engages the notch 19 on the push block'18 and the car body 10 beginsto dump. As it descends, the push block 19 strikes member 16 at anangle, and. as it is free to swing. it assumes the position shown by thedotted lines. At the same time the compression members 25 and 26 have.by means of guide casting 21, been guided the to the position shown bydotted lines, and

the car is dumped. In this position push block 18, rests upon the centerof the yoke 15, over the upper ends of the piston rod. Inasmuch asmember 16, is shaped like an inverted U, the push-block enters the spacebetween the two legs of the-member. The air-having been released fromleft-hand cylinder 14-, it is turned into right-hand cylin der Yoke 1%,bearing on the push block 18, rises and forces the low side of the carbody upward. it not necessary or desirable that the car body shall bepushed clear up to the horizontal position, for it is so balancedthatonly a few inches of travel of the piston are required to overcome thetendency of the body to re nain in the dumped position, when it resumesa horizontal posi tion without further assistance. As the car body isrig'lil'ed, guide casting 2 L, restores the members and to their formerposit-ion; lug 27 drops over the. edge of the frame 12, and the car bodyis locked in the horizontal. position. It will be seen that when the caris in the dumped position, the lug 20, on member 17. out of engagementwith the arm '21, on the side upon which the car is dumped, because ofthe ai'igular position, as shown by dotted lines. (it the swingingmember composed of the upper part 16, and the lower part ll". l' i heu.therefore, the piston starts to rise to right the car, the shaft 21, isrot rotattnl, and the locking methanism on the opposite side is notdisengaged. if it was the momentum at thev lady would cause it to passthe horizontal position-and dump on the other side. Air being releasedfrom the left-hand cylinder 11, the piston rod, yoke and members 16 and17, descend by grayity and all parts assume the position shown in Figs.3 and c and the car is locked in the horizontal position.

Referring to showing the end of the car and door mechanism: lothe'door10 is rigidly secured a plate pivoted on a pin 29, secured to the end ofthe car 30. To

plate I28 secured arc member 31 provided with a series of holes toengage pin 32. in upper end ot the door litting rod 33. The

lower end of the rod rests on the wedge 34'. adjustably supported by theend sill 35. [lheeonuecting rod 36 is pivoted to-the bottom end. of thelifting rod and has its inner end pivoted to the end of the car by thepin 3?. The purpose'ot' wedge 34 is to provide vertical adjustment forthe lifting rod 33. A certain amountot slack or lost motion is necessaryin this door rigging. The ordinary rocking of the car body must notraise the dror. The car body must be able to tip sidewise a tew incheswithout the door lifting mechanism coming into action. It is-dcsirablethat wear anddistortion should be compensated for and this I do by meansot the wedge 34.

In the position shown bv dotted lines the car has been dumped. Theweight of the door is carried on the pin It is evident tlmt the leveragethe door exerts depends-on the positii'in of pin 32 in plate 28. By'making the prsition of pin 32 adjusial'ile. I am able to adjust to the mostdes"able point this leverage and control the motion of the body inrighting and also prevent the body going back of its own accord when theload is discharged. Furthermore, this adjustment enables me to controlthe height to which the door shall be raised.

Referring now to Fig. 2, wherein the piping is shown diagrammatically:On the 10- comotive is the reservoir 40, containing compressed airfurnished by the air pump in the usual manner. The four way valve 41 isadapted to give air to either pipe line 42 or 43, furnishing air tothe'dumping cylinders. The usual cut-out cocks 444546-47 areinstalled'on these air lines. By means of the hose coupling 52, airlines 42 and 43 may becoupled together on the last car of the train.From line 42 is taken the branch line 53 leading to the air cylinder onthat side of the car, and from line 43'is taken the branch line 54leadin to the air cylinder on its side of the car. ranch line 53 iscontrolled by dump cook 48, operated by rod 50, and branch line 54 iscontrolled by. the dump cock 49, operated by the rod 51. Rods 50 P and51 extend clear across the car and can v be operated from either side.Suppose it is desired that the entire train shall be dumped and rightedfrom the engine. Dump cocks 48 and 49 are set to the open position in acounter clockwise movement, as shown in Fig. 2 by pushing the left handrod and pulling the right hand rod on either side of the car. Cut-outcocks 44 and 45 are set to the open position on each car. Valve 41 onthe engine is set to the closed position. To dump,

the engineer throws air on either line 42 or 43' and the cars dump tothe opposite. side. He then throws air on theother line and the trainrights. Suppose it is desired to operate the cars one at a time,independent of the engineer. Cut-out cocks 46 and 47 are opened andvalve 41 on the engine is set in the position shown. Both air lines 42and 43 are now under pressure. Dump cocks 48 and 49 are closed. Now pushthe left hand rod and any car dumps from the operator. Pull the righthand rod and the car rights'toward the operator.

Suppose it desired to spot and dump several cars at one place and thenmove 'the train and dump the remainder at the same place. To avoid thedanger from leaking of cocks 48 and 49, it is preferable that in transitthe air lines 42and 42 be not under pressure. Consequently valve 41 isclosed. Cut-out cocks 46 and 47 on the last car are closed. lVhen thecars are spotted, push the left hand rods on the cars to be dumped.Signal the engineer to throw air on the line on the side where theoperator is. Should he make a mistake no harm is done. for the otherdumping cocks are closed. The cars dump. Now pull the right hand rodsand signal the engineer to'throw air on the other line and the carsright. It will be understood that these cars are operated at night,

' in bad weather by men of very ordinary in telligence. In addition, itis a serious matter to dump a car the wrong way, and a fool-proof andsafe arrangement of the operating rods is absolutely necessary for ,thesuccessful operatlon of the trains. My

arrangement gives the desired flexibility of operation, makes bothsidesof the car alike,.

and to any man can be explained that if he pushes the left hand rod thecar will go from him and if he pulls the right hand rod the car will gotoward him, It is obvious that this arrangement could be reversedwithout changingthe principle involved.

I claim:

1. In a dump car, the combination of a car frame, a-car body mounted foroscillation thereon and having guiding means, and

a releasable member for normally holding the car body in an uprightposition and cooperating With said guiding means whereby said member ismoved by said guiding means to a holding position when the car body ismoved toward an upright position.

2. In a dump car, the combination of a car frame, a car body mounted foroscillation thereon and having guiding means,'and a. releasable memberfor normally holding the car body in an upright position and cooperatingwith said guiding means whereby said member is automatically moved bysaid guiding means to a holding position when the car body is movedtoward an upright position.

3. In a dump car, the combination of a car frame, a car body mounted foroscilla tion thereon and having a guideway, and a releasable member fornormally holding the car body in an upright position and movable in saidguidewaywhereby said member is moved to holding position. when the carbody is moved toward an upright position. Y

4. In a dump car, the combination of a carframe, a car body mounted foroscillation' thereon and having oppositely arranged arcuate guideways,and oppositely arrangedreleasable members for normally holding the carbody in an upright position and being movably mounted in said guidewayswhereby said members are moved to a holding position when the car bodymoved toward an upright position.

In a dump car, the combination of a.

car frame, a car body mounted for oscilla-- tion thereon and having aslotted guideway, v

two pivotally connected members connected at a point adjacent saidguideway, one of said members being pivotally connected to the frame andthe other of said members being releasably connected to the frame tohold the car body in an upright position.

6. In a dump car, the combination of a car frame, a car body mounted foroscillation thereon and having a slotted guideway, two pivotallyconnected members connected at a point adjacent said guidewa-y, one ofsaid members being pivotally connected to the frame and the other ofsaid members being releasably connected to the frame to hold the carbody in an uprightposition, and means for releasing the releasablemember to permit the car body to move to a dumping position. Y

7 In a dump car, the combination of a car frame, a car body mounted foroscillation thereon and having a guideway,-. two pivotally connectedmembers connected at a point adjacent said guideway, one of said membersbeing pivotally connected to the frame and the'other of said membersbeing releasably connected to the frame to hold the car body in anupright position, and means for releasing'the releasable member topermit the carbody to move to a dumping position, said guidewayreturning said second member to a position to hold the car body in anupright position.

8. In a dump car, the combination of a car f ame, a car body pivoted onsaid frame, a pair of cylinders for causing the oscillation of said carbody as required to dump the load on either side and to right the bodyafter dumping the load, vertical Struts located at each side of-thepivot and extend- SilZlOIl, and a trip for operating i i'ng between saidframe and saidbody, said struts having their lower endspivotedto the carframe, guide castings on said car body adaptedfor controlling themovement of the upper ends of said struts, links pivotally 'connected tothe upper ends of said struts and normally releasably engaging the carframe for normally maintaining said struts and car body in a verticalpositiom and means whereby an; actuation of one of said air cylinderswill disengage one of said links from said car frame to permit the carbody to move into a dumping position.

9. In a dump car, the combination of a frame, 'a body pivoted to saidframe, a pair of struts located one on each side of the pivot point ofsaid body the lower end of said struts having a fixed pivot on the framethe upper end of said struts being adapted for movement ina confinedarcuate space means in the form of a rigid link. for ll'ltlil ta-iningeach of said struts in a vertical pnamed means; substantially asdescribe Signed at Duluth, .Nill'liL, this (h Jul 191-6.

ALEXANDER IVE-f. l

